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The Call to Gaiagon: The Roleplay
Introduction There in front of the castle was a young girl with a task to be completed by her hands. She bounded up the front steps carrying the package to be delivered. The building and its parameters in their entireties were visions of imperial majesty. The castle's bright sterling white walls and blue pyramid roofs against the dreary, gray, monotone background of the surrounding forest and village. The pillars and watchtowers marked the edges of the protective wall surrounding the main building. But a large iron wrought gate curbed any further entry in. The girl walked cautiously down the walkway and looked around for anyone who could help her inside. The search was fruitless. It seemed as though the main entryway was abandoned. This did not bode well. She continued until she finally noticed a little lavender note posted against the gate that flapped in the gentle wind of the early morning hours. She gingerly picked it up before it could be let loose and gazed at what the scrawled, all-capitalized letters said, Sigma, In anticipation of your arrival today, I've left the main gate open for you. If there are no guards, do not fret! Most likely, by the time you come, the floor guards will be on break, but our watchtower boys will always have an eye on you. Please come in. However, I request you leave the gate open, for we are expecting another visitor today. Cheers, Balavan To confirm this, the girl looked up to the watchtowers she had noticed before. A dark figure stared down at her and waved in greeting her. The girl did not know who this was, but she could not help but wave back. A bright smile slipped its way onto her face in relief, and she pushed past the gate and headed once more for the main building. Some while later, she had entered the building and then began to walk down the endless corridors to the castle's main room. She knew she had arrived when the sickly-sweet must of ancient tapestry and millennial velvet overcame her. The curtain's drawstrings were held back and the windows let in a rainbow of colors through their stained panes, and the light bathed the main centerpiece of the room: a sole, golden throne that seemed to glisten and glimmer the more it was looked at. It blinded like the sun. Sitting in the majestic seat was an elder man dressed in robes of the ocean and a violet cape of the night draped over his broad shoulders. The crown of amber metal caged two long, flopping rabbit ears that ran down the back of his head. He stroked his off-white facial hair with gloved hands and stared intently at the girl approaching. But the dark man next to him seemed to follow the girl's every move with his eyes of sterling silver. The way he held his hands behind his back and stood tall and erect beside the seated king suggested he was the right-hand man. His untousled ink black hair fell into his line of vision but he still gazed upon the approaching girl with caution. His clothes were obviously not up to par with the elder's, so he was not royalty. But the elegance of his red dress shirt and vest showed he was important enough to stand beside the king. The girl stepped until she was about a foot away from them both and immediately fell onto one knee, on her apron dress, and dipped her blonde head and hair, though she still grasped the three boxes in her hands. "Your Majesty," she uttered softly. Her voice was light and sweet. She couldn't have been older than sixteen. The king rose his hand, and like a puppet, the girl rose to her feet. Then she lifted her head and stared intently into the girl's eyes. Finally, he spoke, and his loud, thunderous voice boomed and reverberated against the spacious room's walls. "There you are, my darling Sigma! Where have you been? We've been waiting all morning for you!" Sigma's cheeks reddened. "I'm terribly sorry, King Balavan." She smiled nonetheless. "Would you believe that our oven broke down this morning, of all days? I had to go to my own house to prepare these for you." "Such dedication!" King Balavan remarked, gesturing for Sigma to step forth. She handed him the packages, curtsied, and returned to her previous position. King Balavan sniffed the boxes and almost seemed to drool immediately. "Well, they certainly smell like they were worth the wait!" Balavan stood up from his throne and stretched his arms and legs, still whilst holding the boxes. "Nothing like some good cinnamon buns in the morning! Hyah!" He then handed the boxes to the dark man beside him. "Upsilon, shall you bring these to the kitchen? And can you please prepare some on a plate for me?" Upsilon stared down at what was in his hands with a look of melancholic envy. He nodded. "Of course, Your Highness." Balavan took off down the runner leading to the door of the throne room. While his back was turned, Sigma approached Upsilon and grasped his hand. She looked up into his eyes and squeezed tightly. "Are you hungry? Sometimes I worry they don't feed you enough while you're on duty." Upsilon showed no emotion, but nodded to her statement. "I will survive." Sigma slipped a round object wrapped in white parchment paper in his vest pocket. It was warm cinnamon bun glistening with white icing and it heated Upsilon's side. The girl giggled under her breath. "Contraband!" she whispered. "Eat it while he's not looking." The dark man looked down at the young girl beside him, and he gave the faintest of closed-mouth smiles to show his gratitude. It was odd for he didn't seem like one who would smile easily. Balavan turned around again and Sigma practically hopped away from her companion. The rabbit king tapped a finger against his chin as he pondered to himself. "Do you have the time, Sigma? Have you left the gate open like I asked?" Sigma nodded. "It's about nine o'clock, and yes, Your Highness." Balavan grinned. "It's okay if you didn't, but thank you. The guest, they're supposed to be coming soon. By the time the guards are finished demolishing the treats you've brought, she should be outside and they can lead her in." Sigma turned her head to the side. "Guest?" "Yes, guest!" Balavan nodded and laughed in childish joy. "A foreign exchange student of sorts." "How exciting! Might I stay to greet the newcomer?" "Yes, of course, you may! In fact, Sigma, you may be a good mentor for the lad. At least, I believe he's a lad? They never told me the gender of said student, but I can only assume." He sighed and looked out the window. "Any minute now, someone from a faraway land will be knocking on our door. We must simply wait." Meanwhile, just outside of the gorgeous white walls was the student in question. Their foreign appearance had attracted much attention back in the town, after all, it wasn't often you saw someone of such a rare species in this country of Gaiagon. The palace before her was so large in size that it was intimidating, the girl felt jitters with every step closer she took towards the gates. This did not go unnoticed by her accompanying companion, an older man who set his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. The girl flinched with a sharp gasp, only to ease her tension once she looked into her mentor's face again. "Elias," she chuckled, "Don't startle me like that! This is really serious, I don't want to mess this up…" The man shrugged and let his hand fall to his side once more. He now took the lead and beckoned her along. "Then you shouldn't keep the king waiting any longer, River. The universe can last forever, but the king cannot. Now come along." Finally, the mentor and apprentice breached through the open gates, the girl'S eyes staring up curiously to the tall watchtowers where she saw the distant sentinels watching down upon the two of them. She kept her hands held together and her shoulders tense after this, struggling not to fidget with her blue quills. Taking a deep, calming breath, she spoke a few soft words. "Elias? Do you think this arrangement is going to work…?" Elias merely smiled, as if amused by her shy hesitance. "It has to work. Gaiagon and Chin-Katei's war ended a hundred years ago. Most everyone has recovered from it by now, and this is a great way to repair relations. After all, River, you remember what I taught you. Our job is to practice and encourage peace." River silenced herself finally, knowing that he was correct, and restrained from speaking her worries for the moment. Finally, the two of them approached the doors of the castle, and entered inside through there. River's eyes opened wide in amazement as she took in the artistic stained glass, old tapestries, and everything else there that had given this place so much personality. There, in the center, the two caught sight of the king sat regally upon his throne, and to his side someone who appeared to be a common girl. Neither of them waved hello, and instead, bowed respectfully before Balavan as their proper greeting. When they lifed their backs, Elias was the first of the two to speak up. "We greet you, King Balavan." Elias politely smiled. He gestured to himself, and then to the girl by his side. "I am Elias, and the exchange student is my own apprentice and niece, River." River did not bow fully this time, and only dipped her head in a shy manner, "I am pleased to meet you, and excited to learn of your culture and customs…" Balavan threw his hands up and sighed exasperatedly. "Aw, what!? The guards didn't let you in? The entrance would've been so much more dramatic had they been there! Can we redo that? Can you go out and come in again with the guards. Guards!" Upsilon moved away from Sigma and stood at the king's side, putting a hand up to assuage his frustration. The kind expression he showed to Sigma was hidden away once more. He lowered his eyelids, furrowed his brows, and settled into his usual stern gaze once more. "It is quite alright, Your Highness. I am sure the travelers are thoroughly wonderstruck by the austerity of your presence alone." Balavan was inconsolable. 'It would've been really freaking cool." Upsilon's tail flicked outward and then straightened. His ears turned toward the two travelers and his gray eyes scanned them, scrutinizing and analyzing their clothes, their mannerisms, their faces. A look of confusion and dismay replaced his cold countenance. "What in the world are they? Where are their ears?" "How crass!" Balavan gasped and frowned at Upsilon as he walked down the runner to get closer to the travelers. "I'm terribly sorry, you two, for the consideration and etiquette that my second-in-command so desperately lacks! We simply don't have many echidnas in Belventia, you see. But therein lies the whole purpose of your venture to our beautiful country. On behalf of all of Gaiagon's citizens, we are very excited to have you two in our midsts. I'm sure we have a lot to learn from your culture, and vice versa. And the others with me..." Balavan gestured in Upsilon's direction, and the dark mink lifted his haughty chin at the attention. "This young man here is Upsilon. He is my knight, and my right-hand man. He oversees all the other guards, and, well, pretty much everyone else here. Forgive him for his lack of cultural sensitivity, but if you need anything, please, he will serve you as he so dilligently serves me." Balavan then gestured to the blonde mink. "And this is Sigma, one of the sweetest girls in Belventia! She was running an errand for me. She works at the bakery in Midtown." Sigma waved, and her lavender eyes glistened in excitement and intrigue. "Hello, Elias and River! Welcome! I hope you've found everything okay since being here?" The blue echidna now gave a polite bow to the blonde girl as well as the dark knight before her. Whether they be king or commoner, she knew to show everyone proper respect. River spoke up on her own once more, "We have enjoyed this country from what we have seen so far. I am pleased to meet you both as well, Upsilon and Sigma. I hope that I can see even more of this country the way you do." Elias was more than glad to see his apprentice practicing her manners, but he knew of course that they couldn't spend all this time of theirs meeting and greeting. With his eyes still locked on the king, he spoke with a confident and yet modest tone, "The high priestess and you have agreed that we will be staying in the palace for this year. If you don't mind, I ask that we settle in with our temporary home." "But of course," Balavan agreed and nodded furiously. "I'm sure you two are weary from the journey arriving here. Please, Upsilon, shall you lead them to their rooms for the time being? Supper will be ready soon, yes?" Upsilon nodded and began to walk toward a corridor east of the throne. He threw his hands up and beckoned for the two echidnas to follow. "If you would please." "Thank you," Elias said with gratitude, and with River by his side, began to follow the path that the knight led. With a last glance back to the king for the ending moment, "We look forward to speaking with you later." With all the greetings aside, River had felt her shoulders drop with more relaxation. She didn't have to feel so tense anymore being in the presence of foreign royalty, and now simply looked ahead of her, towards the leading dark mink. With a small smile, she curiously tried to look into his eyes, but they were most definitely not focused on her. "So... you're a knight? I've read about them before..." she attempted to strike a conversation, "You haven't happened to rescue any princesses lately, have you?" Upsilon pushed back the doors of the corridor. The room narrowed into a long, winding hallway with many doors that one could assume was the living quarters of the castle. As he walked further, his eyes widened in some surprise and he finally looked her way to giver her a critical frown. "I have, actually. How could you tell?" River was shocked to hear that her prediction was actually correct. She had really asked that question in jest, not considering that it was a realistic possibility. She chuckled, "O-Oh, well… I've read some stories, and that's usually a trope of knight characters," the girl explained, "But if you don't mind, if there's any time later, perhaps you could tell me about it?" "I have a feeling I will not be seeing you often," Upsilon muttered in reply. Obviously, he had not gotten River's joke. He swept the hallway now as if he were in more of a hurry. "I am quite busy assisting the king, far too busy to be dealing with trivial affairs such as telling stories." He showed no remorse in brushing off her advance and stopped by a series of two doors. "Your rooms are here." Upsilon sighed. The large windows let in an enormous amount of light, yet he drawn-back curtains cast shadows onto the floor beside him. He began to step away from the two and moved to one of the shadows. Strangely enough, the foot he placed into the shadow seemed to shimmer and disappear. As he stepped further in, he further began to vanish in the shadowy abyss. However, he caught himself before he could go completely and turned to the other two, half his torso completely gone. Where did the rest of the body go? Into the shadows? "Now, it seems to me that a new task to my repertoire includes being a butler of some sort to you two," Upsilon quipped, "So if you require anything, you can simply ring the bell in your rooms and I will attend to your needs. Any questions now before I leave?" At this point it seemed rather clear that Upsilon was not much for friendly conversation. River walked into the room, not continuing with anymore words. While she certainly noticed his rather… odd interaction with the shadows, she was used to seeing this sort of thing at home all the time. Elias was as well. The older echidna waved his hand to dismiss the knight, "Thank you, but… just between us, you don't need to be a servant around River and I. There are many things we can handle ourselves." "Alright," Upsilon nodded, and then he disappeared into the shadows. Sometime Later Not too long after greetings had the two newcomers settled into their rooms and their necessities neatly put away. Elias wiped his brow and now had his attention focused on River, who still seemed entranced and curious about everything that surrounded her in this palace and new country. He merely put his hand on her back and gently pushed her towards the exit, "Come along now, our host has a meal prepared and we shouldn't miss it." "What?" River responded, giving a despondent sigh, "Oh, I thought we were going to explore the city. But… I guess we have a lot of time here. Do you know much about how I should act?" "Act like yourself, that's all you need to know." He assured, as if he were more of a parent than an uncle, "And you know the schedule back home applies here too. I'll arrange time for your meditation and to practice your powers." He looked around the long corridor and sighed, "Now, we just need instruction to wherever dinner is being held…"